'Sherlock's' Martin Freeman to play Shakespeare's 'Richard III'

"Sherlock" star Martin Freeman is going classical for his summer. The actor will play the title role in William Shakespeare's play "Richard III" in London.

Starting rehearsals in May or June for a July opening, Freeman's role will be with Jamie Lloyd Productions at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall, London (as reported by the
Daily Mail). Freeman will play the villainous and scheming king in an undisclosed number of performances.

This will be yet another activity in an extremely busy couple of years for the actor. In addition to playing John Watson on "Sherlock," Freeman is Bilbo Baggins in the "Hobbit" series of movies and has a lead role in the upcoming FX series,
"Fargo."

But Shakespeare is in the air for "Sherlock" actors -- co-star Benedict Cumberbatch is set to star in "Hamlet" in London during the summer of 2015.